From the Embers
by LucySnow2
Summary: Updated!When Sharon is called to a crime scene the victim turns out to be someone she never expected to see again. Will she be able to stay professional as they hunt for the perpetrator or will her heart get in the way? Sharon Raydor/Brenda Leigh Johnson pairing (very very slow burn). Bit of Sharon/Andy angst and a case involving the whole team. Cameos by Deputy Chief Fritz Howard.
1. Chapter 1

_This is just a little something I've been umming and ahhing about for a while. This is going to be a veeeeery slow burn Brenda/Sharon pairing. With a (hopefully) interesting case wrapped up in it too. I just miss Brenda so much I just had to start writing this. Warning for violence in this chapter. Nothing overly explicit but I like to warn anyway._

* * *

She could feel the beat of the music, deep in her chest and she knew that her ears would be ringing tomorrow. The alcohol flowing through her veins gave her a pleasant buzz, just the right side of too much, Enough that her laughter came easily but not so much that she would make a fool of herself. And she could feel the bodies pressed up against her as she danced, the packed floor offering little in the way of space to move. But suddenly she couldn't breathe. The bodies were packed in too tightly around her, constricting the movement of her chest. She pushed, struggled, tried to find a way out of the heaving crowd but she was just met with resistance.

A wave of darkness washed over her and she blinked, trying to clear the blurriness that was preventing her from seeing. When she finally managed to focus her eyes, the first thing she noticed was the absence of the music. All she could hear in the silence was heavy breathing, panting. Was she making that noise? She still couldn't breathe. Something heavy was pressing against her chest. She blinked again, and a white hot wave of fear washed over her as she made eye contact with the something, no the _someone,_ who was causing her inability to breath properly.

Despite the fogginess clouding her thoughts, somewhere deep inside she knew she had but one chance to gain the upper hand. The person on top of her was shocked, and she used this surprise to kick her legs up underneath him, knocking him off balance and he fell off of what she now realised was a bed. She sucked air into her lungs greedily, her chest burning with the effort and it took her a moment before she could even think about moving.

The man growled angrily, springing up almost immediately and the woman struggled to roll off of the other side of the bed. She fell to the floor with a grunt and looked around the dimly lit room, trying to find something she could use as a weapon. But he was too quick, and before she even had a chance to move he had grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her up. He snarled at her before he slammed her face into the wall, once, twice, three times before her vision was distorted and her mouth was full of blood.

"It's not supposed to be like this," the man shouted, flinging her back onto the bed, "You've messed it all up," he sounded desperate, close to tears . He clambered on to the bed, straddling her hips and closed his hands around her throat, his eyes wild as he yelled obscenities in her face.

"Pl-please," she managed to plead before she could no longer form words. Choked gasps managed to escape her lips as he tightened his grip, lost in his frenzy. She could feel the last of the oxygen burning away, could feel the fire in her lungs as she fought to take a breath. Her fingers clawed at his hands, desperately trying to get him to loosen his grip but she could feel her consciousness beginning to slip away.

Frantically she flung her hands outwards, scrabbling for something, anything that could help her. Her fingers hit the end of the bedside table, then she found the cord of a lamp. Stars danced behind her closed eyelids but she found the strength to grab the cord and the lamp fell into her hand and she brought it down with all her might on to the back of the man's head. The impact stunned him momentarily, and his grip on her neck loosened just enough for her to suck in a fortifying breath. She raised the lamp once more, and it made a sickening cracking sound as she slammed I down on to the base of his skull.

He fell limply on top of her and the lamp fell out of her hand, the bulb smashing as it hit the floor. Her chest heaving, she used all of her strength to push the man off of her and he fell to the floor, still unmoving. She stumbled off of the bed, her pulse pounding in her ears as she tried to orientate herself and find the door. Her hands were shaking as she fumbled with the chain, throwing worried glances over her shoulder at the still unmoving man slumped on the floor.

The overwhelming dizziness she had felt when she had first woken up was making an unwelcome return and she was afraid she was going to pass out and she let out a terrified whimper at the thought of not being able to get away. Finally she managed to get the door open and she ran out on to the landing of a motel complex. She staggered on unsteady legs towards the stairs, grabbing desperately at the rail to stop herself from falling. She was too panicked to notice the crunching of glass beneath her bare feet, her brain was too numb to register anything but the overwhelming need to get to someone, a phone, anything that could help her.

The flashing neon vacancy sign served as her signpost to the reception and as she made her way across the tarmacked car park it felt like she would never get to the glass fronted door. Her heart sank as she realised the door was locked and the lights were out and she banged on the door until she realised there was a buzzer. She rang it frantically and it seemed like minutes passed before the lights in the reception flicked on.

"Jesus Christ, enough with the buzzer. I'm coming, I'm coming," a sleepy voice came from the other side of the door.

She looked up at the motel owner desperately as the lock clicked and the door swung open, and he swore under his breath as he took in the state of the woman before him.

"Help," she could barely whisper, her vocal chords bruised from the choke hold her attacker had had on her. "Please," she managed to get out before a wave of dizziness caused her to pass out at his feet.

* * *

Sharon Raydor looked impeccable as she stepped out of her car in the early morning light. Despite having gotten called to a crime scene just half an hour earlier, her hair was as perfect as ever and she had a sharply cut navy blue suit on, sensible black heels and her signature lipstick. She didn't relish getting called out at 4am, especially on a Saturday when she would have to fight for the overtime for her team, but professional as ever, Sharon oozed confidence as she stepped under the crime scene tape that surrounded the motel's reception and car park. It was a sleazy looking place, she mused, as she looked around the parking lot. Only four cars and a motel with this many rooms meant they didn't get much business. No doubt the crime scene tape would hurt the place further.

"Lieutenants," she greeted as she walked up to and unusually anxious looking Flynn and Provenza. Mike Tao was over on the other side of the lot by a stairwell, pointing out something to Buzz.

"Captain," Andy replied, not quite making eye contact with Sharon as Provenza gave a gruff nod. Sharon didn't think much of it, she knew early mornings did not go down well with the older Lieutenant.

"Can you fill me in please, I didn't get many details over the phone. Detective Sanchez seemed in a hurry," Sharon explained, her eyes wandering over to the detective, who was standing talking to a man the brunette presumed was the motel owner. Sharon could tell that Sanchez was agitated, and she could see that Amy had her hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down. Andy cringed, it seemed Detective Sanchez hadn't told her much at all.

"That's because the uniforms who got here first didn't do a very good job of securing the crime scene and SID have spent the last hour trying to play catch up," Provenza huffed, and Andy muttered something offensive about rookies under his breath.

"The facts please, gentlemen, before we start throwing out accusations," Sharon said sharply, causing both men to stand up a little straighter.

Andy flipped to the front of his notebook squinting to read his own writing, "About 3AM the motel owner came to answer the buzzer, someone was going crazy pressing it and when he opens the door the… victim," the pause is too quick for Sharon to notice, but Provenza does and he cringes at the word. "She's all banged up, faints at his feet. So he calls 911, patrol gets here before the ambulance and they put up a perimeter around the car park and the road leading into it, I think, well they assumed she'd been thrown out of a car."

"What they failed to notice is the blood over on those stairs," Provenza pointed behind him to where Mike and Buzz were filming, "It was only when we got here that Tao noticed, followed the blood up the stairs and into a trashed motel room."

"Oh my god," Sharon ran a hand through her hair and grimaced, "So that crime scene was left alone for over an hour. I'll need to speak to those officers as a matter of urgency."

"There's another set of stairs, too, the go off round to the back of the complex, so anyone could have come and gone unnoticed," Andy added, flipping his notebook closed and Sharon sighed. She just hoped that the officers' negligence hadn't compromised their crime scene.

"Cameras?" Sharon asked, though she already had a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Motel owner says they've been out for months," Provenza rolled his eyes, "No money to fix them and apparently most of his clients prefer it this way."

Sharon crossed her arms and surveyed the car park again, "Yes it does seem like a place one would go if they wanted to not be seen. Was the victim able to give a statement before she was taken to the hospital?"

Andy shook his head, "She remained unconscious until the ambulance took her to Cedars, but at least those patrol officers did one thing right."

"Hmm, and what was that Lieutenant?" Sharon asked, her interest suddenly piqued.

"It's the reason we were called in Captain, one of the officers recognised the victim as the wife of an LAPD deputy chief," Andy explained.

"W-who, which department?" Sharon attempted to swallow the sick feeling that had risen in her throat. She couldn't help but lose a little bit of her composure at the revelation. Crimes of this nature were awful no matter who they happened to, but that fact it had happened to the wife of someone she worked with was a punch to the gut.

Provenza cleared his throat and looked at Sharon with a pained expression on his face. "Deputy Chief Howard, Captain," he said, and Sharon's mouth dropped open in shock, "The victim is Brenda Leigh Johnson."

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 _Thank you for reading :)_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! they really spur me on to write and I already have most of the next chapter written :) I hope you enjoy this next chapter, and I'll be updating soon!_

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 _"It's the reason we were called in Captain, one of the officers recognised the victim as the wife of an LAPD deputy chief," Andy explained._

 _"W-who, which department?" Sharon attempted to swallow the sick feeling that had risen in her throat. She couldn't help but lose a little bit of her composure at the revelation. Crimes of this nature were awful no matter who they happened to, but that fact it had happened to the wife of someone she worked with was a punch to the gut._

 _Provenza cleared his throat and looked at Sharon with a pained expression on his face. "Deputy Chief Howard, Captain," he said, and Sharon's mouth dropped open in shock, "The victim is Brenda Leigh Johnson."_

The revelation stunned Sharon into silence for a moment, knocked the breath from her body and she struggled to regain her composure. She didn't even know that Brenda was in LA. The last she'd heard she'd moved to DC, Fritz visited every other weekend and she hadn't been west of the Mississippi in three years.

Sharon had figured there'd been too many ghosts in LA and it hadn't really surprised her when the tentative friendship she'd brokered with the blonde fizzled to nothing when Brenda had moved. It had been better for the both of them for the distance. But now, now Brenda was back in LA and she was the victim of a horrific attack and Sharon just couldn't fathom it.

"Captain," Andy said, softly placing a hand on Sharon's elbow. His use of her rank brought Sharon out of her stupor and she cleared her throat and straightened her jacket.

Both Provenza and Flynn were looking at her expectantly and Sharon realised how hard this must be for them and that the reason for their strange behaviour, for Julio's agitation was how worried they must be for their former boss. The team had been fiercely loyal to Brenda, that much Sharon had seen years ago, when she first met the Major Crimes team, and more recently when she had taken over after Brenda's retirement. Sharon knew this case was going to be personal, messy, difficult, and she knew that she had to be the commanding officer the team needed to get through it. There was no time for her own feelings to cloud her judgement, not right now.

"Lieutenant Provenza, I'd like for you to get those two patrol officers to my office and have them wait there until I can talk to them please," Sharon was all business now, "Andy could you take over from Detective Sanchez and finish up getting the motel owner's statement?," Andy nodded, he knew this needed to be as clean an investigation as possible. They were already in murky waters, investigating a case where the victim as someone they all knew so well and the last thing they needed was an excessive force complaint.

"Please let Julio know I'll need him to take the statement of anyone who's still here, we'll track down the rest from the motel's customer log. I'm going to look over the crime scene and then I'll take Detective Sykes with me to the hospital." It had only taken Sharon a few seconds to decide that Amy would be the best person to take with her to interview Brenda, not only did she know that the blonde probably wouldn't appreciate seeing the faces of her former male colleagues, but as far as she knew Brenda didn't know Amy at all, and if it became too hard for Brenda to talk even to Sharon, she would hopefully be able talk to the younger detective.

Both Provenza and Flynn looked relieved at their assignments, and Sharon could tell that as much as Brenda probably wouldn't want to see them right now, they had both been worried about seeing Brenda in such a vulnerable state. They would have gone, if Sharon had asked, but she could sense their relief nonetheless.

"I'll get on that right away Captain," Provenza said, pulling out his phone, "do you want them kept apart?"

"No, no, it's more a matter of getting the facts Lieutenant. I just want their cooperation," Sharon replied, her previous anger at the two officers had abated slightly because she realised that maybe even her own judgement may have been compromised had she been the one who recognised a victim.

Andy lingered for a moment as Provenza walked away, his eyes narrowing as he took in Sharon's demeanour. He knew the two women had had a rocky relationship, but throughout the lawsuit Captain Raydor had been someone Brenda had leaned on heavily and he knew that by the end of it all they'd become as close to friends as he thought they could be.

"Sharon," he said quietly, "she put up one hell of a fight." He gave her elbow a squeeze as he turned to make his way towards where Julio was standing.

 _Of course she put up a hell of a fight_. Sharon thought to herself. She expected nothing else from Brenda. It didn't make her feel any better though and she took a deep breath before she headed over to the stairs where Mike and Buzz were.

"Captain," Lieutenant Tao greeted Sharon as she slipped on blue shoe covers over her heels. She walked carefully up the stairs, avoiding the blood that marked the left side of the dirty metal steps. The blood was drying now, and even in the light of the morning it was hard to make out. At the top of the stairs she came across some smashed glass, some more drops of blood and then she could see the flurry of activity at the door of room 37. SID officers were dusting the door frame for prints, but they stepped out of the way without even being asked as Sharon approached the doorway.

Sharon sucked in a breath as she stepped into the room. Andy was right; Brenda had put up a fight. The room was absolutely trashed. There was blood on the wall and on the floor by a smashed lamp. The bed sheets were rumpled and the pillows strewn across the room and Sharon's heart lurched. Pink shoes, unmistakably Brenda's, were oddly placed neatly side by side under the desk along with her purse and Sharon frowned. That little bit of order in the chaos of the room unsettled the Captain but she wasn't quite sure why.

"Ma'am," one of the SID officers said apologetically, "I'm sorry, we need to start clearing the evidence out of the room."

"Oh of course," Sharon replied, heading towards the door. She had seen enough for now.

As if on autopilot she made her way back down towards the parking lot, removing the shoe covers at the bottom of the stairs. Mike took them from her hand as if he had been waiting there for her to hand them to him.

"Thank you Lieutenant," she nodded, the barest hint of a smile gracing her lips.

"You're going to the hospital?" he asked, his brow furrowed in concern.

Sharon nodded, "I'm taking Detective Sykes with me."

"Let her… let the Chief know we're thinking of her," he said softly. Mike couldn't help but to call Brenda 'Chief'. He'd never gotten out of the habit.

"I will, I'll be back as soon as I'm finished at the hospital. They took her to Cedars?"

"That's right," Mike replied.

"Right," Sharon said, mentally preparing herself for what was to come.

* * *

"They were really close weren't they?" Amy noted as they walked through the doors of the ER, "Chief Johnson and her team. I mean, I knew they were tight knit but I've never seen Julio so mad, and that's saying something." Amy sounded uncharacteristically worried.

"They worked together for over seven years Detective, and in those seven years they went through a lot," Sharon explained. She stopped just short of the reception desk and shot a serious glance at the young detective.

"Amy, I didn't just bring you here with me because you're a woman. I brought you here because you're a neutral party here. She may not be comfortable talking to me and I might need you to take point on this interview. It won't be productive if you act like you're personally connected to the men she used to spend more time with than her husband. Can I count on you to be that person if I need you to be?"

Amy stood up a little straighter and adjusted her jacket, the Captain was putting a lot of faith in her, and she wanted to show that she could do whatever was asked of her. Of course she was worried about the guys. She'd never seen them quite so personally involved with a case before and it frightened her. But she could pull it together, she always did.

"Yes ma'am. You can." Amy said her voice stronger now.

* * *

Sharon hovered outside the room that Brenda was in. She knew she had to go in, knew she had to go and conduct what was probably the hardest interview of her life. And Captain Sharon Raydor didn't flee from the difficult things, hell she'd made a career of staring down the difficult things. But right now she wanted nothing more than to run back down the corridor and out of the doors and leave Amy to do the hard work.

But she wouldn't. She owed it to Brenda to try.

The brunette held her breath as she knocked. The doctor in charge of Brenda's care had given her a brief overview of Brenda's injuries and had informed her that she was currently awake, but in a very fragile state and to try and refrain from agitating her if at all possible. Sharon had found herself wishing the promise she'd made the doctor was sincere.

"Come in."

Sharon could have sworn her heart stopped. The voice that carried through the door was quiet, it was weak and hoarse but it was the inimitable voice of Brenda Leigh Johnson.

She thought she'd been prepared for what she was going to see but when Sharon pushed the door open she had to fight the horror that wanted to make itself evident across her face. Brenda was almost unrecognisable through the bruises that marred her face .Her bottom lip was split and she had a cut across her forehead. The blonde looked tiny in the hospital bed and Sharon's eyes started to burn with tears.

Sharon cleared her throat, panicking for a moment over how to address the woman in front of her, but in the end she settled for what came the most naturally to her.

"Brenda Leigh," she sighed, painfully aware of how shaky her voice was , and Brenda looked up at her , pain and shame and despair swimming in her deep brown eyes. It was almost too much and Sharon couldn't stand it. She pulled at her jacket, trying to pull herself back into a semblance of her usual professional self.

"This is detective Sykes," she motioned to the woman she had momentarily forgotten about, "if it's alright, we'd like to ask you some questions about what happened tonight."

Brenda shrugged, and Sharon couldn't help but notice the pained wince that crossed her face.

"Okay" the blonde sighed and it was the most defeated Sharon had ever heard her.

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